Trump assails 'witch hunt' after naming of special counsel

20 May 2017

"The president is entitled to his opinion, but we're a nation of laws", Rubio told reporters, referring to the special counsel recently appointed to investigate Russian meddling in the USA presidential election, including any ties between Moscow and members of Trump's campaign team.

Congressman John Moolenaar, R-Midland, isn't joining Democrats and Republicans in the House calling for an independent commission to fully investigate the connections between President Donald Trump and Russian Federation.

White House communications staff initially said the President chose to fire Mr Comey after receiving recommendations from both Mr Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

"With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign and the Obama administration, there was never a special councel appointed", Trump said in another tweet.

This week, news reports alleged that Trump had previously tried to pressure Mr Comey into backing off inquiries into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!", Trump wrote.

"The takeaway I have is that everything he said was that you need to treat this investigation as if it may be a criminal investigation", Graham told reporters after the briefing from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Rosenstein was originally invited by the two Senate leaders, Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democrat Chuck Schumer of NY, to explain Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey. They're still pushing to create an independent commission to investigate Russian interference in November's election and connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The deputy attorney general penned a letter criticising Comey's handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails, which provided the White House with the rationale for firing Comey - and raised questions about Rosenstein's own ability to remain politically independent.

The House intelligence committee announced that it had asked for documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department. A vigilant people's movement is required more than ever, however, because the president has it within his legal purview to fire the special counsel.

Trump and Lieberman discussed the position at the White House on Wednesday.

Mueller was credited with transforming the FBI, putting more resources into counterterrorism investigations and improving its cooperation with other US government agencies. He also told a graduating class at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy yesterday, even before the announcement of the appointment of a special counsel, that "no politician in history has been treated more unfairly" than him.

Ryan held a news conference Thursday, in which he repeatedly attempted to steer the conversation back to House Republicans' legislative priorities.

The FBI, with the help of the Treasury Department, the CIA and other agencies, is examining evidence of possible contacts, money transfers and business relationships between a variety of Trump associates and Russian officials, the sources say...

Senate Democrats demanded that Rosenstein appoint a special prosecutor, which was accomplished with Mueller's appointment.

But he said Thursday, May 18, that he has confidence in Robert Mueller leading the Justice Department's investigation, and supports the House and Senate committees looking into the allegations. "A special prosecutor can not take the place of a truly independent outside commission that is completely free from the Trump administration's meddling".